If I were to vote

I would vote for a person who is more qualified to work for the community and the people. I would vote for someone who would unite people and not divide them between the PML-N or the PTI or the PPP. While we are fighting among ourselves, dividing the nation and dividing the households, we never once stopped to realise that we, Pakistanis, are the one to lose in this fight. Why can’t we learn to acknowledge the good in others? While focusing on who won and who came second, we have totally ignored the person who came third. A candidate of a party affiliated with the JuD. The candidate is also on the US terror list. The JuD enjoys the following of thousands of people in different parts of the country, although it is banned in Pakistan since 2015. The chief of the party, Hafiz Saeed had been placed under house arrest so many times, but he still comes out squat free.

These religious organisations can tap a large vote bank because they run a large network of madrassas. It is a worrisome turn of events because people can be easily swayed in the name of religion. The line between the right and the wrong has never been so grey. This is the time to unite the people – not to divide them.

Mehreen Khan (Lahore)